An Internet Marketing Tutorial for the rest of us

Google Update
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Create + Promote Blogs
Today is a kind-of good news/bad news day for Google. On the negative side is a follow-up to our latest series on cyber-crime and ID fraud. According to John Leyden of The Register, Google is introducing a new version of its desktop tool that lets users search the contents of another computer. "Search Across Computers" stores text copies of searchable items on Google's own servers for 30 days.



The Electronic Frontier Foundation urges consumers not to use the "Search Across Computers" feature and we agree that it provides a "one-stop shop" for hackers who get your Google password.



The EFF further states:
The Electronic Communication Privacy Act of 1986, or ECPA, gives only limited privacy protection to emails and other files that are stored with online service providers—much less privacy than the legal protections for the same information when it's on your computer at home. And even that lower level of legal protection could disappear if Google uses your data for marketing purposes. Google says it is not yet scanning the files it copies from your hard drive in order to serve targeted advertising, but it hasn't ruled out the possibility, and Google's current privacy policy appears to allow it.



On the heels of that news, you might be wondering what could possibly be the good news with Google? Jason Lee Miller, of WebProNews, tells us that Google has teamed up with VolksWagen to create a top-notch 3-D navigation system for cars using Google Earth technology. It includes a 3-D bird's-eye view of the surrounding area, 3-D maps off a touchscreen, and traffic updates. We can only concur with WebProNews: Cool.

CIAO for now,
Randy

Stormpay and 12 Daily Pro
Mood:  crushed out
Topic: Make Money with Your Blog
A while ago, we had posted a plan to make money with your blog using Stormpay and 12 Daily Pro. We used $6 we had made from Stormclix to invest in 12 Daily Pro and reinvested the returns in our Stormpay account. After about a month, we had made about $24 and had our sites set on even bigger profits.



'Course if you are at all informed about Stormpay, they decided that 12 Daily Pro was an illegal Ponzi sceme. Stormpay also took our $24 and, according to 12 Daily Pro's rambling discourses, several other people's. Furthermore, Stormpay's main site has been down for over a week, so no one can investigate what happened either.



Long story short, we thought it might be a fun way to make a little extra money, but we didn't really lose anything but some time online. We sincerely hope none of our readers put any large amount of cash in either Stormpay or 12 Daily Pro. 12 Daily pro doesn't appear to have done anything wrong, but then again, they have disabled the ability to use their service with any payment processors.



In the future, we will utilize Paypal as a payment processor for online purchases. Also, buyer beware any HYIP's. Don't invest more than you can stand to lose and don't make any life decisions based on anticipated returns. They are a gamble, just like the stock market.

CIAO for now,
Randy

Our Latest Tenant is Kitchen Fun
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Make Money with Your Blog
We just accepted a new tenant! Please check out "Kitchen Fun with Donna and Friends" to the left. She has a number of delicious and nutritious recipes available. According to BlogExplosion stats, her site has an 85% approval rating and most readers call it "Well Designed" and "Useful." We're sure you'll agree. They'll be with us for a week so please be sure to come back and visit often!

Here's another great online cookbook!


CIAO for now,
Randy

Update on Pingoat
Mood:  surprised
Topic: Create + Promote Blogs
Pingoat, our old trusted ping aggregator, is undergoing some changes. If you haven't investigated the link on the side, we encourage you to do so after you update your blog. Pingoat has a nice interface where you type in your blog's title and web address, then you can ping a number of services all at once. Some of the services are not always operating at the same time, but it's a great way to get the word out about what you have newly published!



Yesterday, Kailash Nadh, the owner/operator of Pingoat posted the following:


Acqusition
February 8, 2006, 3:43 am
Posted by Kailash Nadh in Announcements

Hello dear friends. You might have already guessed whats going on from the title. Yes, Pingoat (along with Splogspot) is soon going under an acqusition. This is not a 'multi million dollar' acqusition, but the whole of Pingoat and Splogspot is getting acquired for an undisclosed amount.

I will hang around here, looking after the technical stuff for some time.. I am really sad to let Pingoat go and I am going to miss you all.

I'll keep you posted. ;(

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I'm not sure what this will mean for the future operability of Pingoat. We hope that it will continue as before with new owners and maybe even add additional services (wouldn't that be nice). Needless to say, as Kailash keeps us informed, we will keep you informed as well.

Saw this really great movie with my daughter - now it's on DVD at a great price!

The Gospel - $ 18.99
From: Buy Rite DVD

CIAO for now,
Randy

Spain Clamps Down on Hacking
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Create + Promote Blogs
In the latest international move against cybercrime, Spain has arrested 26-year-old Santiago Garrido. Mr. Garrido allegedly used a computer worm to launch distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDoS), disrupting approximately 3 million Spanish internet users, or about a third of all Spanish internet users in 2003.



His reason for doing so is perhaps the most interesting part of the story. He was booted from a chat room for not following the rules! For his vengeful act, he received 2 years in jail and potentially a 1.4 million Euros fine.



Kudos to Spain and the Spanish Civil Guard for refusing to tolerate this kind of aberrant behavior.

CIAO for now,
Randy


Information from Sophos.com was used for this report.

Software Piracy Plot Nabs 19
Mood:  energetic
Topic: Make Money with Your Blog
A federal grand jury in Chicago on Tuesday returned an indictment on 19 people that they used the Internet to pirate more than $6.5 million of copyrighted movies, software, and games. Title stolen include "The Incredibles," "The Aviator," and "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005."



The defendants belonged to a "warez" group called "RISCISCO," founded in 1993. Warez groups seek to use the internet to illegally distribute copyrighted software.

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Each was charged with conspiracy to commit copyright infringement, which carries a 5-year sentence. Three were also charged with copyright infringement, which carries a 3-year sentence. Each defendant worked in a high-tech job.



The reason we mention this headline is that some of our readers may be tempted by warez announcements of riches, or may be duped into buying (for resell) illegally distributed works off of auction sites. We want to protect you. The simplest advice is this: if the deal on an online auction looks to good to be true (e.g., selling a book for a dollar that you know retails for $20), treat it with caution. Usually, the dollar book has a hefty shipping fee.

CIAO for now,
Randy

Gimme Your Hot Kama Sutra Love
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Create + Promote Blogs
As the Kama Sutra Worm is scheduled to dump its load tomorrow, please make sure your security is up to date. John Sith, of SecurityProNews, reports that people with the incorrect date on their computers may have already been affected. He also states that the worm lives on 30,000 computers in Turkey, Peru, and India. He also mentions that the worm will hit all of your hard drives.



In a related development, 19,000 of current and former Honeywell employees had personal information posted on the internet. Fortunately, the web page was immediately removed, and measures are being taken to ensure that it does not come back.

So please be careful out there. Drop us a line if you have any additional internet safety tips!

CIAO for now,
Randy

Better Blog Policies??
Mood:  cheeky
Topic: Create + Promote Blogs
"Microsoft Outlines Blog Policy

Under the new rules, Microsoft will remove access to blog content only when it receives a government-issued, legally binding notice indicating that the material violates local laws. This framework comes after Microsoft was criticized for removing the blog content of an outspoken Chinese journalist. " Information Week 1/31/06



Brad Smith, general counsel and senior vice president for Microsoft, called for a broad international dialogue to establish a set of principles for Internet companies with blogging services in different regions of the world.



Brad told government officials and other leaders at a Microsoft conference in Portugal that Microsoft is committed to the sharing of information and ideas through blogs. He said the new policy is a guide for dealing with government orders. He said, "We believe we have a set of principles that ensure we comply with all of our legal obligations in China and other countries and ensure we are consistent with the broad principles that the Internet creates and people's desire for free expression."



Microsoft is not alone in when it comes to helping other governments control their media. In September, Yahoo gave information about journalist Shi Tao's personal email account to Beijing. They, in turn, charged him with divulging state secrets. He was sentenced to 10 years in jail.



Microsoft reports some 3 million people in China are using MSN spaces to create blogs which are being read by some 15 million chinese citizens. MSN Spaces is the only blog provider covered by this new policy.



For those of us in countries where there is no government monopoly on information, let us be thankful and continue to contribute to the free flow of ideas and oppose any legislation that seeks to hinder that. Also, let us keep the Chinese people in our prayers. Maybe MSN's move will help them obtain some measure of freedom of speech.



To help keep your own searches private from government busibodies, here are four suggestions:

1) Delete your history - Tools, Internet Options, Clear History in Internet Explorer; Tools, Options, Privacy in Firefox

2) Empty your cache - Tools, Internet Options, Delete Files in Internet Explorer; Tools, Options, Privacy in Firefox

3) Use an anonymous surfing tool - This prevents sites from seeing where you are accessing them from

4) Be careful where you surf - Don't surf any site you wouldn't wwant others to know you visited



CIAO for now,
Randy




Sources: The Austalian, February 2, 2006; The Seattle Times February 1, 2006; TechWeb January 4, 2006;
Techweb Febraury 1, 2006;

How to get to the Top of Social Bookmarking Sites
Mood:  incredulous
Topic: Create + Promote Blogs
We were just reading Site Pro News and found what it had to say about Darren Rowse's Problogger quite interesting. He got 8,000 hits in one day! That day he was at the top of the social bookmarking site Del.ic.ious, recently acquired by Yahoo. We are going to review his 7-step guide to getting to the top of Del.ic.ious.



1. Make a List
2. Number your List
3. Write a ‘How to…’
4. Make Big Promises and Claims in Your Titles (without being deceptive)
5. Get Technological
6. Inspire
7. Use Humor



These tips could easily be adapted to any other similar social bookmarking site, such as My Web 2.0, Flickr, Furl, Frassle, or Spurl. Who knows? Maybe social bookmarking (the Favorites tab for the 2000's) is the next major traffic generator! In any case, don't pass up any opportunity that could lead to more traffic, readers, and sales.

CIAO for now,
Randy

The Nyxem-D Worm
Mood:  quizzical
Topic: Create + Promote Blogs
The experts at Sophos have issued a warning for all email users. The Nymex-D worm allegedly poses as pictures of the Kama Sutra, and is set to be launched on this Friday, February 3.

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Beware of any unsolicited email that claims to contain sex movies and/or obscene pictures. The worm's aim is to disable sexurity software, such as anti-virus or firewalls, and tries to collect email addresses in order to send itself to others.



Subject lines used in these badmails include the following (edited for family-friendliness):

*Hot Movie*
Arab sex DSC-00465.jpg
Kama Sutra pics
Fw: SeX.mpg
Fwd: Crazy illegal Sex!
give me a kiss
Miss Lebanon 2006
Part 1 of 6 Video clipe
School girl fantasies gone bad
The Best Videoclip Ever



Graham Cluley, senior tech consulatant for Sophos, encourages "safe computing": i.e., don't open an email from someone you don't know and you should refrain from sending and receiving joke files, porn and funny photos and screensavers. He says this is mainly because this particular worm "feeds on people's willingness to receive salacious content on their desktop computer."



Another thing the Nyxem-D worm does is destroy files, replacing the contents with:

DATA Error [47 0F 94 93 F4 K5]

So please beware and follow the safe computing tips outlined by Mr. Cluley and frequently mentioned here.

CIAO for now,
Randy

Tags: Sophos, worm, Nymex-D, Internet, security